Spiritual Warfare in the Book of Proverbs – part 61

Scripture:

Prov. 8:14
Counsel is mine, and sound wisdom; I am understanding, I have strength.

Comment:

Who is speaking here, saying he has wisdom, understanding and strength? From the days of the early church, Jesus is reckoned to be the one. But these statements are also true for the other two persons of the Godhead, the Father and the Holy Spirit..

If we look at the scripture from a “spiritual warfare view”, we should realize that we really need counsel, wisdom, understanding and strength.

• We need counsel and sound wisdom. Things might seem obvious from a human viewpoint, but when the spiritual truth is revealed the situation can be totally different.
• We need understanding – not our limited human understanding, but the revelation that only God can give us.
• We need to act in strength, but not our own strength. We should act from the victory that Jesus already has won. And use the authority He has given to us.

These are important conditions in order for spiritual warfare to be what God has meant it to be.

Thought for the Day

It is one thing to INVITE Jesus to be Lord of our lives, and it’s another thing to LET Him be Lord. “Jesus is Lord” must become more than a salvation phrase. It must be a conscious choice all our life.

Thought for the Day

Do you sometimes feel like you are going from one ditch to the other? We have all been in the ditch of failure at some time. But, God is with us, even in the ditch. And He knows how to bring us out of the ditch and back on the road again.

Thought for the Day

The Bible is full of exhortations that say we should not fear. When the Bible says something, it is true. When the Bible repeats a truth two or three times, it’s a confirmation. When the Bible says that we should not fear over 300 times, we can be assured that God really wants to emphasize it.

Thought for the Day

It’s not about WHAT is coming against you, but it’s about WHO is with you. There will be a lot of setbacks and difficulties against us. We are not exempt from them. But God is with us. That is our real security.

Thought for the Day

”Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their masters, As the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress, So our eyes look to the LORD our God, Until He has mercy on us.” (Ps. 123:2 NKJV).

How does a servant look to his master’s hand? Does he expect to receive something? No, the servant is aware of his master’s signal, so he can quickly serve him. In the same way the Word of God tells us to look at Jesus. Our attention should be more on obeying Him than on receiving from Him.

Thought for the Day

You are spirit, soul and body. When you were born again, you became a new creation, in your spirit. Your body did not change, and your soul did not change automatically. The change in your soul is an ongoing process, and it requires an interaction between you and Jesus. Your part is to allow the Holy Spirit to change what needs to be changed in you.

Spiritual Warfare in the Book of Proverbs – part 60

Scripture:

Prov. 8:13
The fear of the LORD is to hate evil…

Comment:

The scripture above doesn’t say that to fear, i.e. respect, the Lord, is to ignore the evil. It says that when we respect the Lord we will HATE evil.

King David wrote about hating evil.

Ps. 139:19-22
19 Oh, that You would slay the wicked, O God! Depart from me, therefore, you bloodthirsty men.
20 For they speak against You wickedly; Your enemies take Your name in vain.
21 Do I not hate them, O LORD, who hate You? And do I not loathe those who rise up against You?
22 I hate them with perfect hatred; I count them my enemies.

It is important for us to define who are real enemies are.

Eph. 6:12
For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

We need to understand that being involved in spiritual warfare isn’t something odd. On the contrary, when we fear the Lord we will have a strong hatred against the evil spiritual world.

Thought for the Day

You exist because of Jesus. Regardless of whether you were planned or not by your parents you were planned by Jesus. And just like all of you were planned by him, your soul’s purpose was to please God. Therefore, there is no other than Jesus who can give your soul its proper satisfaction.

Thought for the Day

In Rom 8:37 we read that “in all these things we are more than conquerors”. In what things are we more than conquerors, according to Paul? The answer is found in verse 35 where he talks about tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril and sword. To us, victory many times means freedom from hardships, while the Word of God calls it victory when we, with the help of God, overcome the hardships.